The Solar Impulse project's goals amount to more than breaking records and making history.
The delicate, single-seat Solar Impulse flies around 40 mph and can't go through clouds.
Read on to learn a bit more about the Solar Impulse project and it's future plans.
Development of Solar Impulse may contribute to better designs of "long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, " as the Pentagon calls them.
The Solar Impulse considered the world's most-advanced sun-powered plane left Moffett Field in Mountain View just after dawn.
Piccard hopes Solar Impulse will start a similar cycle that will lead to unimaginable new dimensions in the development of technology.
We've been tracking the sun-powered plane known as Solar Impulse for years as it roved hither and yon.
Its creators say the Solar Impulse is designed to showcase the potential of solar power and will never replace fuel-powered commercial flights.
Before its coast-to-coast American trip, the Solar Impulse will take test flights around the San Francisco Bay Area in April, officials said.
Today, Solar Impulse's pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, came to NASA's Ames research center to announce their plan to fly across America.
Last year, the Solar Impulse made its first transcontinental voyage, traveling 1, 550 miles from Madrid to the Moroccan capital Rabat in 20 hours.
However, in 2010, Swiss balloonist Bertrand Piccard plans to launch Solar Impulse, a manned plane in which he will attempt to circumnavigate the globe.
It had a petrol engine producing 12 horsepower (8.9kW) not much more than each of the four 6kW electric motors on Mr Piccard's Solar Impulse.
Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse co-founder and chairman, said the plane should be ready for the cross-country journey on May 1, depending on the weather.
Solar Impulse has the wingspan of a passenger jet such as Airbus A340, yet at just over 3, 500 pounds, it weighs about the same as a sedan.
FORBES: Video: Solar-Powered Plane Takes Off For A U.S. Maiden Voyage
Solar Impulse, which is also the name of the company, is working on a second plane that the two founders plane to fly around the world in 2015.
FORBES: Video: Solar-Powered Plane Takes Off For A U.S. Maiden Voyage
And, you can watch a video of Solar Impulse taking off on its North American journey and hear Borschberg talk about learning to fly it after the break.
Speaking of sun-powered planes, the Solar Impulse just made its final test flight around the San Francisco Bay Area before embarking on a cross-country voyage next week.
The Solar Impulse is powered by about 12, 000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries, allowing it to fly day and night without jet fuel.
Switzerland is home to several renewable energy projects, including the most advanced solar-powered aircraft, the Solar Impulse, which made its first international flight less than two weeks ago.
FORBES: In Switzerland's Decision to Phase Out Nuclear Power, a Glimpse of the Future?
Video posted on the expedition's website showed a smiling pilot Bertrand Piccard shortly after landing, as he waved to well-wishers and held up a flag emblazoned with the Solar Impulse name.
The idea is that Solar Impulse will take off and fly under its own power using electricity from the 11, 628 solar cells covering the upper surfaces of its wings and tailplane.
Mr Piccard's Solar Impulse has a wingspan of just over 63 metres, similar to that of a giant Airbus A340 airliner, but its carbon-fibre fuselage has only enough room for one pilot.
Considered the world's most advanced sun-powered plane, the Solar Impulse took off from Moffett Field in Mountain View at first light for a two-hour practice run in advance of a planned multi-city, cross-country tour.
The Solar Impulse considered the world's most-advanced sun-powered plane set down about 12:30 a.m. at Sky Harbor Airport, completing part of a journey that its pilot described as a "milestone" in aviation history.
To that end, the pilots will be broadcasting live transmissions and allowing the public to speak with them as they fly, in addition to providing access to flight planning information on the Solar Impulse website.
Should any of you want to join along with Piccard and Borschberg as they fly across the country, you can hit the Solar Impulse Across America website to see a livestream from the cockpit, along with real-time altitude, air speed and battery status of the aircraft.
The plane, Solar Impulse, is expected to be ready to leave from the San Francisco Bay Area on May 1, although the actual departure will depend on the weather, the plane's Swiss creators said at a news conference at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif.
After seven years of tinkering, they arrived at a machine with a deceptively simple design: Solar Impulse with its sleek, clean lines, white-gloss finish and rakishly angled 208-foot wings (bent to increase the plane's stability) resembles what you might get had Steve Jobs reimagined a child's balsa-wood glider in giant form.
WSJ: A Solar-Powered Plane Travels Light | WSJ. Magazine May 2013
Early this morning at Moffet Air Field in Mountain View, California, Solar Impulse finally took off on the first leg of its barnstorming tour across the US. Of course, this isn't the first time the sun-powered plane and its pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, have flown long distance, but it is the first time it's taken wing through American airspace.
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